This is a moderated subreddit. It is our intent and purpose to foster and encourage in-depth discussion about all things related to books, authors, genres or publishing in a safe, supportive environment. If you're looking for help with a personal book recommendation, consult our Suggested Reading page or ask in: /r/suggestmeabook

Quick Rules:

Discussion is the goal
Do not post shallow content. All posts must be directly book related, informative, and discussion focused.

Personal conduct
Please use a civil tone and assume good faith when entering a conversation.

Encouraged
We love original content and self-posts! Thoughts, discussion questions, epiphanies and interesting links about authors and their work. We also encourage discussion about developments in the book world and we have a flair system.

I find myself pirating a lot more books than I actually purchase. I try to justify this by comparing it more like borrowing them from the library since I wont be in possession of the actual copy, rather than stealing them from a book store.

Also, I have a friend who is into reading as much as myself and if I find myself very much enjoying a certain book, I very occasionally purchase the book for her to read.

I don't justify it, just like I don't justify speeding or rolling stops. It's wrong (in whatever way you want to define "wrong"), but there's an infinitesimal chance of getting caught, so I'm just going to do it.

Which is actually a good reason to compare it to rolling through stop signs or speeding. A lot of people who pirate things probably rationalize that they're not hurting anyone.

While I purchase a large number of things (I don't even really emulate games that much anymore, I buy the systems and games even if they're out of print), I still pirate occasionally because I embrace the "try before you buy" mentality.

Although the largest reason why I don't pirate anymore is because my financial situation is a lot better than it used to be. I'm no longer living paycheck to paycheck (and at my worst, I wasn't even able to make timely payments on my student/car loans because I lost my job). People without a budget to easily afford stuff are probably more likely to resort to piracy.

EDIT: I will say that this isn't necessarily a hard and fast rule. A friend of mine pirates a ridiculous amount and has a disposable income (not to mention he doesn't even have a lot of ordinary living expenses since he lives at his parent's). His mentality is simply that if he can get it for free, why pay? I personally hate that mentality, and look at paying as supporting the things you like. Be a patron for the things you love, otherwise they won't be able to be able to sustain themselves and you'll have no one to blame but yourself.

People have access to libraries. I live in a city with over a million people and the public library is open from 12-3. That's when normal people work. Also, they wanted a copy of my bills with an address and a proof of income before they would give me a library card, which I had to get in person. After that, it took weeks to get a hold of a book. I don't think you understand the condition of modern libraries. It's harder and costs me more, income wise, to check out a book than it does to purchase the damn book.

I don't know, they want to make sure you live in the city and you're not a hobo?

I needed a bill with the city address on it, a paycheck stub with my address on it or some such thing, some way to prove the address you gave is yours beyond ID. I'm guessing they had a large problem with people stealing.

Actually proof of address makes some sense. If you want to get a card you have to prove you live in the town. Just bring in a piece of mail with your name and address on it. Could be spam mail and they'll even recycle it for you.

I order my books for the library over an online system that tells me when my book is en route and when its arrived, then they hold it for a week. Can even renew over it. Its very convenient. And if the network doesn't have a book, they can order it from outside the network, and even then they'll order it to add to the collection. My library is like crack.

Libraries are protected by copyright law and can lend copyrighted material. Obtaining and retaining a copy of copyrighted material without obtaining the permission of the copyright holder is copyright infringement, and illegal.

A million, a hundred thousand, ten thousand, one thousand. How many people do you think should get to read a book without supporting the author? What reason would an author possibly have to continue writing and releasing books if they can't earn their living from it?

Authors don't have families? No kids, spouses, or grandchildren to support?

The publisher that took the time to transcribe the paper copies of books to digital, and build epubs, mobis, PDFs, etc., don't deserve money for doing so? I guess not.

Don't want to buy something that's "abhorrent trash?" Borrow it from the library first. Read the sample chapters online. Download the ebook and read a couple chapters to see if you like it or not, then buy a legal copy.

I pirate books often, but if I read the whole thing I buy a copy.

There are plenty of reasons to pirate, but "someone paid for it once" is not a valid reason. That's just pure theft and nothing more.

Libraries are allowed under copyright law to lend their books, so it's not copyright infringement.

And libraries have to purchase copies of the books they lend. One person seeding a copy on TPB is not protected, so it's infringement, and no one is getting paid for the thousands/tens of thousands/hundreds of thousands/millions of downloads.

Additionally, downloading isn't "lending"-- you get to keep possession of a copy forever.

One person. Maybe. They might have just ripped the DRM off a library e-book.

Libraries don't get to lend unlimited copies of ebooks, either. They purchase a certain number of copies that can be lent a certain number of times.

And if a book gets checked out hundreds/thousands/tens of thousands of times, the author isn't getting paid for all those either. The end result for the author is exactly the same.

No it's not. A library book can only be lent so many times before it has to be replaced. A library book can only be lent to so many people at a time, forcing people who can afford the book but don't want to wait two months to purchase it instead.

Pirating ebooks gives the pirate a permanent copy of the book that can be copied without limit and distributed to millions of people without any tracking or reciprocity.

I'm really not trying to be a dick here, just confused as to why some people think that it's ok to "steal" from the author if it's legal, but not if it's illegal.

You seem to be refusing to understand that one ebook purchase that is then spread around to hundreds of thousands or millions of people is different than a local library system having three copies of a book for a few million people to share. As long as you continue to ignore the difference there's not really a discussion for us to have.

Libraries don't get to lend unlimited copies of ebooks, either. They purchase a certain number of copies that can be lent a certain number of times.

Only true in the case of ebooks, and then only for some publishers.

No it's not. A library book can only be lent so many times before it has to be replaced. A library book can only be lent to so many people at a time, forcing people who can afford the book but don't want to wait two months to purchase it instead.

So it's the scale that bothers you? Not the actual act?

You seem to be refusing to understand that one ebook purchase that is then spread around to hundreds of thousands or millions of people is different than a local library system having three copies of a book for a few million people to share.

So scale again?

As long as you continue to ignore the difference there's not really a discussion for us to have.

Morally there isn't a difference. The author still isn't getting paid when I read his book. The differences are A.) Legal (the courts have established libraries as being ok), and B.) Scale (difference between shoplifting and grand larceny).

What is the difference between that , and getting a book at a library book sale, or thrift shop for practically nothing? The author etc still don't get any money off the sale. I am worried what piracy will do to the book business over the long run. Will a modern day Will Durant be willing to spend that much time writing a series of books when they can be pirated in minutes? But ever copy of that set I have ever owned I got for almost nothing. I just don't know.

Just because you buy a kindle doesn't mean their ebooks are free. Yes they have a hefty selection of books you can read for free but if you are looking for the more popular modern authors that you have come to love over the years their books generally cost something to download.

I don't have a kindle. I have a nook from three years ago that was given to me as a Christmas present. Besides, I know a lot of people who read pirated ebooks on their computers. Calibre is free after all.

It was a gift. On my own I would've never bought a kindle. Now I have it and barely use it. Most of my books on it are bought save for a couple that don't look too good anyways. I wish I could get the font smaller.

I've only done it for one series. Wheel of Time. I'm currently in the process of reading all 13 before the 14th comes out. I was considering setting aside the ~$100 it would take to re-buy all of them (I did re-buy the first, I own all of them but they are at my parents house 2000 miles away), but I finally decided that was stupid and got them from the server I have access to.

The only other one I considered was Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. I downloaded it then stared at the file on my desktop for 10 seconds and then deleted it. I felt like a piece of shit for stealing it since I had previously had every intention of buying it.

If your argument is "It's against the law", would you still be opposed to piracy if it was legal?

If your argument is "it's wrong", expound please. I'm honestly curious on this because there are a great many ways that I can read that author's book without having to pay for it. Where do you draw the line?

I also think that it's a shame that reddiquette isn't being followed here. If the comment doesn't add to the discussion, by all means downvote. Don't downvote just because you don't agree with the philosophy.

What if it was legal?
If it wasn't against the law, it wouldn't be piracy. I have no problem at all with people downloading electronic versions of public domain works, or caching copies of free web content for reading offline. Downloading a book that some poor schmo worked on for years, making it harder for him/her to earn out his/her advance and thereby to get the next book published, I have a problem with. Writing is not lucrative. Very few authors make much money from their writing at all. Nearly all have to have some other job to pay the bills. How do you justify not paying for books?

Why is it wrong when there are many ways to read a book without paying for it?
There are many ways to read a book without paying for it, but relatively few in which the author never gets paid at all. Libraries pay for the books that they lend. Not only that, many people who borrow books from libraries also buy books.
If you borrow a book from someone, that person probably didn't steal it. In these cases, the scope for the lending is relatively small - how many books does your friend lend out in a year? How many times for each book? I just don't see personal lending having any kind of scale.

And where do I draw the line?
For myself, I draw the line at NEVER. I pay for every book I read, and I read a ton of books. There are books I've bought that I probably should have tried to obtain through a library - Handbook of Rare Earth Metallurgy comes to mind, as it was expensive and I only read it once - but in general, I like having easy, repeat access to the books I read, because I reread almost everything.
For that matter, I buy a lot of music, too. You know who also don't make a lot of money? Most musicians.

I only pirate textbooks from school, when I get the chance. They are ridiculously priced an I have a hard enough time paying tuition. Thus I don't feel bad about it. I don't have any sort of e-reader so I don't download novels or anything, but I imagine I would if I could.

I almost never pirate books, unless I cannot get it legitimately. I know how little authors make, so I do not do it, and atop that I can always go to the library, or buy a used book for a buck, or I may borrow it from a friend. Authors make 8.5% of the cover price of their books. So, I just don't feel right about taking from them. Not like they're rolling around in cash.

There is no viable method for "Purchasing" ebooks. I say purchasing, because all the major vendors only proctor "Rentals." BN, Amazon, Apple, it's all DRMed bullshit that they can take away at any time. Amazon makes it easy to rip DRM out, so I often do that when I can. I will not spend money on something with DRM. So I pirate. On the first of every month I send an email to Comixology letting them know exactly how much of my paycheck they are not getting this month due to DRM in their comic books.

I'm an artist by trade, and honestly, part of being an artist is wishing to share your art with the largest audience possible. Any true artist would rather not exclude people who wish to experience their art, based only on their monthly income. Art is contrary to capitalism. If I can afford to support artists I respect, I will. If I can't afford it... If they care more about their money (I understand all too well that we all have to live) than about their art, I don't respect that. As long as those who wish to support the artist, and who have the means, continue to patron them, the system should continue to work - without limiting those who lack the financial wherewithal to purchase every book that comes out.

If I pirate it, and it was wonderful, I will purchase it when I have the money. If it's an indie book, I will NEVER pirate it - the author didn't get an advance, the publishing house isn't taking a giant cut, I want them to have every penny I can give.

"Pay what it's worth" is the model of the future. We've seen it work perfectly with the Humble Indie Bundle. Those who can only give 1 dollar, do. Those who can give more and wish to support not just the artists, but the industry, pay thousands. It all balances out to far more than if they had just slapped a 5 dollar price tag on it.

I occasionally download a digital version of a book I already own. Or I download the sequel to something that ended on a cliff hanger if I can't get to the book store. The only time I pirate a book that I don't already own or plan to buy at my earliest convenience is when I come across something where the reviews are completely ambivalent. Then I'll download it and read a few chapters to see if it's worth buying.

I like physical books a lot more than ebooks (I don't have a tablet or ereader so the best I can do is a laptop, which is shit compared to paper books) so pirating ebooks would only cheapen my reading experience, excuse the pun.

As a writer, this whole discussion matters quite a bit to me; I don't and will likely never understand anyone's justification for pirating books (or anything else for that matter) but it is interesting to see how peoples' brains are working.

But while you're justifying pirating a book, consider the writer. Sure, you might not be able to afford all the books you want to read, but come on...writing is how I make a living. It's how I pay bills, put food on the table, gas in the car. You wouldn't walk into McD's and steal a burger simply because you don't have a dollar in your wallet and expect it to be all right, so why would you steal--and it is stealing--someone's work and expect it to be all right?

I can't even understand the justification that you're not taking a "real" copy of the book. A digital copy is a real copy. I earn more on digital sales than print sales; as far as my bank account is concerned, that e-book is every bit as real as the paper version. You're reading the story; that is where it's "real."

Not sure about a book and don't want to pay for something you might not like? Go to Amazon and download a sample. You don't need a Kindle or any other e-reader; you can download it to your computer. Sample, then decide.

No, it's not like borrowing from a library. I get paid for books purchased through library distribution. And the library isn't going to lend out hundreds of thousands of copies; put my work online illegally, and it could theoretically be downloaded a million times.

Bottom line, yes, it does hurt the author when you pirate the book. Even if not financially--because you wouldn't have paid for it in the first place--then personally. I don't walk into your place of work and disrespect your efforts; please don't disrespect mine.

at first I thought books were REALLY expensive... then I found out I was just shopping at really expensive book chains. I've recently found the thrift discount book stores that usually have what you're looking for at the fraction of a price. Sad thing is I have to take the train to go downtown to find said stores. I just finished The Girl Who Played With Fire and am in a pickle because I so very want to read the final chapter, but have to spend 16 bucks on tickets to and from downtown and obviously the book. Discount is only viable for me when I buy in bulk. With that said....

Oh really? now I actually feel kind of guilty. The majority of books I've purchased have been from retailers but now that I know this little fact, I'm going to act accordingly. Thanks for the information. I was going to wait until my thrift store had the girl who kicked the hornets nest, but now that I know this, I'm going to pick it up at coles.

If the book is on sale, for dirt cheap lets say, from a retailer such as Chapters, or Barnes and Nobles, I'm talking 70% off, does the retailer get the 30% that's paid, or the full 100% and the retailer pays the 70%?

You go to Goodwill or some other used store and pick up your book there. The author doesn't get a cent of that purchase because they got paid on the original book (in fact there were several lawsuits over this issue).

You go to Amazon.com and buy a used book there. Amazon gets a percentage and the seller gets the rest. Still nothing to the author.

You go to Amazon and buy a used book that says "Fulfilled by Amazon". Same thing as number 2, except Amazon pockets it all because they're the ones who are listing the book.

You go to Amazon and buy a book at full price. Hunky dory, everyone gets paid normally.

You go to Amazon and buy a book at 70% off (assuming it's not remaindered). Publisher still gets their regular cut, and the author gets their regular cut (whatever was negotiated by the respective lawyers and agents). The reason this happens is that Amazon (or B&N or Borders or whomever else) is using that book as a loss leader. They get you into the store (physical or online) to buy that book. They'd like you to buy other things too, but what they really want to do is make it a habit for you to check with them first when buying something.

You buy a remaindered book (Barnes & Nobles typically have these set on tables in the front area of the store or before each counter). The author might get something, depending on how much it was sold for. So let's say the store orders 75 copies of Stephen King's newest book. Retail price for the hardback is $29.95. After three months they've sold 50, and sales have dropped to the point where they're not featuring the book anymore on the store display. They decide to put 10 on the remaindered table for $4.50 each. Let's say it costs the publisher $3.00 to actually print the book (which is probably pretty close to accurate), then at that point the author will get a percentage of the $1.50 left over. Not very often does a remaindered book actually sell for what it costs to make it.

I want to point out that the above is true for the US. Laws are different in other countries (for example I believe the UK allows for royalties to be paid out to authors when their books are checked out).

One other thing to mention. If a store can't sell the books it's buying from the publisher, they can almost always return them. When and if that happens the author loses royalty money, because they get paid when the bookstore orders the book, not when it's actually sold to the customer. Many publishers will hold some money out as a reserve against the expected return.

Just want to point out something about point 3. You aren't quite correct there. As a private seller, I have 2 options when listing books. I can sell used and ship it from my business/house, or I can have Amazon store my goods in an Amazon warehouse, and pay rental fees to Amazon for the storage. When someone buys an items of mine I am selling that is listed as "Fulfilled by Amazon" Amazon just packages my item and ships it. Amazon gets a percentage, and I get the rest. This is a plus as I don't have to store the goods, I don't have to worry about shipping them, I don't have to worry about the returns process(Amazon handles it if there is a return) and Amazon can lump my sold goods with other sold items to allow people to get super saver shipping.

Fees for storage are based off the size of the items stored.

AND now that I typed all that, I took the time to look it up for a link and I realize I could have just linked this in the first place. lol.

They did get paid when the book was bought the first time around. The owner no longer wanted the book. Would you suggest we throw away books so people have to buy them new? If your #1 concern was really the author getting paid you'd just mail them a check. As with most artists working in their respective industries they probably make close to nil per book. And since when is an author getting paid an objective moral good? Who really deserves to get paid over and over and over again based off of work they did in the past? The only reason it's even mildly acceptable to any artist to make money that way is because they'd be screwed otherwise.

You're the one who said it was immoral to read a book without the author getting recompense. I pointed out that buying a used book allows you to read the book without the author getting recompense, so is therefore immoral by your standards.

I think that you're talking about used book stores. I think that by "thrift store," what is meant is the kind of strip mall big box that's selling crates of mass-produced books that never sold in the first place, hugely marked down.
The author did get paid for those in the form of an advance, which for those big run books was possibly substantial. However, the publisher wound up with a warehouse full of copies that couldn't be sold at full price, so they cleared them at a much lower thrift-sale rate.
Author got paid some, publisher possibly took it on the chin. That's the publishing business in a nutshell.

I'm talking more about Goodwill and Salvation Army stores that get their books by donation and sell them at a buck a piece. We have an Ollie's near here that buys warehouse stuff, but most of the books end up being crap that no ones really wants to buy anyway.

I buy a ton of history books from university presses. I have at least 10 that are so that are over a thousand pages in length. For me not getting a digital copy is more than just annoying. It is a real pain in the ass to have to dig for a quote and its citation in something as thick as a phonebook. I don't pirate now but I would download copies of the books I already have in order to avoid digging.

The big universities put out digital copies of their stuff but I don't feel I should have to buy the book twice in order to get a search feature.

I've spent a fantastic amount of money on books over the years (tens of thousands of dollars), including e-books when they were at the fair price of 9.99. I'm not paying the ridiculous prices that Jobs and the big 6 fixed for new e-books. They can all kiss my ass and I hope the pirates break their fucking greedy backs, just like the record companies.

I pirate books that I wouldn't spend money on anyway. As in, if I see a book that looks kind of interesting but not enough that I would purchase it in a book store, then I download it and read it. If I enjoy it, I purchase the author's back catalogue online in print format. If they don't have any other books, i buy the original one (particularly as they're likely a debut author). I like doing this because I still get to read print books. I know the author deserves my money, but in a case like that, they would never have got it unless I read the first book for free. I am not ruthless, and I do stick to my word on this, as I hope to make a living from my writing one day and don't want to be a hypocrite later in life.
I think if more authors allowed this to happen (download one book for free to "test them out", like BS did with Warbreaker), then they'd end up with a wider readership. Authors need to adapt to the ease of access to their books through ereaders, and maybe adopt a sort of "if you can't beat 'em" attitude. I don't respect the authors who are vehemently against pirating books because there are so many people who wouldn't read their work otherwise. I understand that not everybody would then go and purchase their other works, as I do, but their readership has still expanded. I also pirate copies of books I already own, for the sake of having a portable copy.

Interesting. Your method of pirating the first book and paying for the rest of the catalog is pretty much what indie/self-published authors do: give away the first book for free in order to entice readers to buy the rest.

Exactly. Contemporary indie authors have adapted to the ease of access of ebooks and used it to their advantage. Authors like Stephen King, who refused to release his most recent novel in ebook format (at least initially) are refusing to acknowledge the changing nature of readership.

I'll usually buy after I've started reading a pirated version on my Nook. My conversion is about 90%. I don't think I would do this if I was able to buy a combo pack, much like the Blu Ray/DVD combo packs for movies an television shows. Would I spend extra $2 bucks for a valid ebook to go along with my hard copy? Definitely.

By the way, I'm currently doing this with O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series. They have matching art on the spine which looks terrific on the bookshelf. Also, just finished I Am Legend which also needs to be purchased.

100% of the books i read are borrowed from the library, bought at used bookstores, or pirated. i support the first two institutions through donations and patronage, because i believe they are important. honestly the only books i buy new are poetry collections that i buy at readings. obviously not a lot of my money is going to authors.

if authors had a good, compelling equivalent to a musician's tour, i'd support them that way. but they don't so i won't!

i fully understand that i'm part of the "problem" but i don't lose any sleep over it. maybe i'm awful, i don't care, and i don't feel i need to justify it to myself. it's just what i do.

i have an extensive library and will continue to buy physical books, but i am not going to pay twice so i can read it on kindle or android unless it's [riced very reasonably. honestly i think they could get a lot of mileage by bundling the ebook with the physical copy for a few bucks more.

pirating also lets me sample things i would not be willing to pay money for up front, though of course it also allows me to indulge in things i would never purchase regardless

at the end of the day i think piracy will be fairly beneficial in the long run in terms of getting asses into seats as it were. getting the devices and mode of consumption established. they could be far more aggressive in attempting to combat piracy but compared to what we've seen in music and video games it almost seems half hearted. maybe they've learned from the prior outcry against these practices, or maybe it's worth it to have the tech-savvy using the devices/services for little or nothing so they can help spread the product to the masses

Honestly, i don't really think about it. I would say i actually buy more books than i pirate (probably 2:1 if not 3:1) but there's no pattern or system. I don't have some code about paying for authors i support and only pirating populist crap. I've pirated authors i like and paid for things i regretted. I'm less likely to pirate it if i have to jump through hoops to do so, or if i consider the price affordable. I'm more likely to pirate if publisher options are unwieldy or rare, or if i already own a dead-tree copy. But ultimately it's all pretty arbitrary for me and i just do what's convenient for me at the time, and i don't feel that bad about it.

If the ebook is more expensive than the paper-version I sometimes pirate it out of annoyance. Should I happen to like the book and decide to pick up more books from the same author I will purchase the rest of the authors books that I read.

Having the paper version already standing in my shelf also works as a get-out-of-feeling-bad-for-pirating-free card.

I'm from Belgium and I prefer to read my books in English (the text seems to flow better and you have more choice). Unfortunately, ordering from Amazon tends to take weeks for a book to arrive. Also, for about every five books I start reading there's only one I like enough to finish. Last but not least, for some reason many ebook shops don't sell to Belgium, which is ridiculous.

Oh, and the library in my town is a joke. Nothing but old or outdated books there.

I realize the above doesn't justify the pirating of course. It just makes me a spoiled little bitch.

Just gonna play devil's advocate here and say that this is a loaded question because using the word justify implyies that piracy is "wrong" and you need to prove that you're not bad for doing it.

Some people do not even believe piracy is wrong. Morals and ethics do not always line up. And each person has their own set of morals. There are some societal norms that are largely agreed upon, but everyone usually tends to have their own unique set of nuanced morals.

Piracy is not ethical in the United States (or pretty much any part of the capitalist parts of the world). This is pretty much an undeniable fact.

Whether or not it is immoral is up to each person to decide for themselves.

I personally break a whole lot of laws that do not harm others. Many laws are created for maintaining order, preventing people from abusing one another, and to allow people to be safe. In an ideal world, they are created to set a precedent for people to be respectful to one another. Not all laws are just, but many of them are created to protect people from one another.

I am not an ethical person. I obey ethics as long as they align with my moral code. I see ethics get twisted all the time, and they are something I have no control over. I treat people with respect and empathy, even the ones that don't deserve it. Corrupt people cannot corrupt my morals.

Another way to put it is this: You can lead by example, or you can lead by fear. Morals are like leading by example while ethics are leading by fear. Leading by example and making people want to be good makes good people. Leading by fear and enforcing rules on people teaches people to be criminals and how to manipulate the rules.

Author here. I'm okay with sharing, and if someone messages me just asking for a book I give it to them (happens sometimes with people who have Nooks or other non-Kindle readers, since my books are only on Amazon). It's more important to me that people read (and hopefully enjoy) my books than getting the money for them. Although the money is also nice. My philosophy is that if people like my books, they'll want to support me. And if they don't, no big deal.

you'd have to be complete scum to pirate a book by a struggling self published author .. i mean somebody who put a couple of years into writing the thing, put it up on amazon for a pittance like 99c or $2.99 or whatever and sell 5 or 6 copies a week not even enough to pay for a decent meal and then some scumbag wants to read it but is too cheap to pay for it? -fuck that - i don't think its possible to justify that sort of behaviour in anyway and anybody who tries can kiss my ass.

It's usually not on the torrent sites, but it's definitely out there...

Which is too bad, as there are actually legal ways to try out self-pub authors that you aren't too convinced about --- they are usually available on the lending sites: lendle, booklending, ebookfling...

I check ebooks out from my local library and remove the DRM. They don't have a ton of copies and it takes months to get a popular book, so I get on the list early and remove the DRM so I can read it when I get the chance.

If I think it's worth paying for I buy a digital copy for the archive.

I pirate stuff because I'm cheap. I will only pay for something when I know it will be worth every cent. That's not to say I've never bought a book. I've spent my fair share of money on books.

Here's the odd part: I used to pirate music like crazy. I'm sure over 90% of my iTunes library used to be pirated. But with services like Pandora and Spotify, I've stopped pirating music altogether. I listen to tons of songs for free, and the ones I especially enjoy, I purchase legally through iTunes. I believe Ebooks and other online distribution platforms could benefit from looking at how Spotify and Pandora do business. Offer your product for free or dirt cheap with some sort of limitation like advertisements, and create very convenient ways of legally purchasing your product without the limitations.

Convenience and ease of use, not to mention a quality service, will beat out piracy. Creating greater restrictions will only encourage more piracy. Just look at Steam. I've never pirated a game because Steam makes it so ridiculously easy to purchase and play games, not to mention the amazing sales.

I went through the same process with music and gaming. Once the distribution system made it less painful to pay for the content than to pirate it--and once the price reached what I perceived to be a reasonable level, e.g. Spotify Premium ($10/month) and Steam sales (games under $20)--I became a happily paying customer.

I've been buying Books [and DVDs] since 1999; Blu-Rays since 2009, and eBooks since 2010. In those thirteen years I've easily spent £35K / $54K on my interests. In terms of the numbers, I'd say around £12k / $18.5K of that has gone on books.

I openly pirate content, specifically TV Shows and eBooks. I've lost count of how many shows I've ended up buying on DVD / Blu-Ray after initially pirating them - 24, Dexter, Mad Men etc, etc.

But to focus specifically on eBooks - if a book I want is from an author I'm already familiar with, I'll usually buy it on the day of release. If it's a book that's been recommended to me, then I'll download a sample chapter, and if it's less than £5, I'll take a risk on it.

Anything more than £5 I pirate.

For me, the internet now acts as my "local library", allowing me to "borrow" books. Unfortunately my "offline" library system is terrible - woeful stock levels, librarians who steadfast refuse to embrace the future [I've had librarians tell me that "People like you" - i.e. people who use eReaders, are the reason libraries are shutting down across the country.]

As with TV Shows, there are plenty of authors whose works I now pay full price for, who I first got into through pirated content.

TL:DR: I use the internet in place of my local library, to "borrow" books I'm not initially inclined to pay full price for. If I like the book I'll usually either buy it [eBook or physical] and will usually buy additional books from that author.

Point in case - the last book I read - The Yiddish Policeman's Union? I pirated my first Michael Chabon novel - I've since gone onto purchase all his books.

I think I probably have the best excuse ever. I'm disabled and can't work and therefore have only the small amount of money the gov't gives me so buying books isn't wise. I can barely get myself out of the house for doc visits and even if I could send somebody to the library it's very hard for me to handle a paper book for very long. Piracy is basically my only choice. When self published authors publish on amazon for a buck or whatever I will pay for it though.

You may want to see if your local library has ebooks - most of them do now. You can log in and download materials from home without ever having to leave your house, and authors still get paid by the library. Win-win!

I'm absolutely terrible at getting into books. I own several which I've only read the first chapter of, and frankly I can't afford that while living on a student loan. Since getting a Kindle, I pirate books which I'm interested in, then purchase a legal copy if it's something I get into.

Consider it like taking a car for a test drive, you don't buy cars that you've never tried out before.

Really because I don't have the income. I'll still buy books from amazon, sure. But there are some series that I simply can't afford to read. Like Discworld. I would literally have to spend hundreds of dollars to read the entire series (like 35 books).

It's not really a justification as to why stealing is okay, but more like the reason for why I'm not paying for books at this point in my life. When I have a better paying job I'll definitely start buying my books.

The books I download are not the books I would have normally purchased. There are only a few authors who I'll buy without first checking the book out.

I figure that the end result for the author is no different than me checking out the book from the library. The author only got the one sale at the library, but is getting exposure by people reading it. Downloading it is easier and quicker than getting it from the library.

If I read the book and like it I'll buy it, or other works from the author. I'll often end up buying those other works new (either digitally or in physical format). Before I got an e-reader I bought maybe three new books a year. Last year my Amazon account showed some two dozen (at least) purchases of new ebooks, not to mention the physical books.

I also pirate electronic books of physical books I already own (of which I have several hundred). I'm not going to pay twice for the same book.

If I buy a book (say Amazon) and it's a format I can't remove the DRM from (Amazon's .topaz for example), then I have no qualms about downloading a pirated version.

My library has ebooks available, but the selection is limited and the time format as well. Downloading lets me keep the book as long as I need to until I finish it.

I think most of the writers people actually want to read are, in fact, motivated by financial gain. If they weren't so horrified of being "popular" I think you'd find most LitFic writers are interested in money, too.

I give away short stories and the first novel of my series for free. I do this because it helps promote the books that I have for sale. If someone doesn't like my writing, they don't waste their money, which I think is smart.

Oddly enough, all of my free books are also on torrent sites. The cool thing is that they leave in the links to Amazon and Smashwords that I have at the end, so if someone really likes them, they can visit my pages. I waste absolutely no time trying to take any of that down.

My books are relatively inexpensive too. I charge what I think is fair. As a reader, I HATE paying the ridiculous prices they have for ebooks, so I refuse to do that to my readers.

I only take action when people try to sell a copy of my book on Amazon, Lulu, ebay, B&N or any of the others. That's not just piracy, it's outright stupidity. :P

As far as reading goes, I mostly read Indies. I look for free ebooks, and if they're any good, I'll buy the rest of their series. I won't pay ridiculous prices for them though. There are too many books out there now for me to do so.

I would never pirate a book written by someone who was alive, unless I already own a copy. However, if they're dead, I would rather read what they had to say then not read it because I never have the money. As for libraries, what's the difference between checking a book out from a torrent site and checking it out from a library? The internet, like a library, seems to be a large database of information. Checking a book out from a library does not support the authors any more than pirating a book does, and in both cases if I truly loved the book I always end up purchasing it.

I'll pirate without qualms if the book is out-of-print or the author is dead. OR if I already own a deadtree copy. OR if I've bought the dang ebook already and I can't read my copy because it is DRMed, I've changed ereaders, and I can't access my previous purchase.

I've been pirating more extensively lately because I'm broke; can't afford to fix my car; I'm crippled; trapped in my house without transport unless I beg rides from friends; I can't make it to the library. I'll buy one legit ebook a month (usually something with good recommendations on the net) but I can't afford more than that.

I hope the years I've spent making free ebooks at Distributed Proofreaders pay back in some way.

never tell others how to do it. let the crime stop at yours.
yeah know it affects the authors. apologies. but your problem for choosing b/n or amazon.

Owned a nook from grey market, tried to buy from b&n. they wouldnt allow it. Owned a kindle and tried to download some free books, but was rejected or had to pay lot more for paid books.
Cos didnt have a F.USA address or CC.
IF they dont want to sell then they dont loose nothin.

On the other hand, why would i pay ridiculously for a device and also pay for using it?
Ebook devices can be sold like phone plans.Subsidies with monthly plans. and do it more outside the F.USA.
And dont charge double and a tip if we are outside the F.USA.

Justify? What do you mean justify? I just fucking pirate a lot of books to see what I like. I am fucking poor and I work a ton. Precious moments to myself are spent reading, not standing in a virtual line at the library.

If I can read it now I will. Often, if a book is not utter shit, I will purchase a physical copy. Out of the last 60 books I've read I purchased 22 of them. But I'm just too poor to purchase at the rate that I read. It's not an ethical thing. (keep in mind I actually purchased twlight... it's a very low threshhold.... people send me a lot of crap to read)

If a book has maps and a glossary I usually purchase it. (Hello Martin, Erickson, and Pratchett). This is a very ungainly system on a kindle.

If a book is fucking hard and is going to be filled with sticky notes and google links then I'm going to want a first rate paper and digital copy. (Thank you Joyce, Hofstadter, Dickens and Emerson).

If the book is a translation. I'm going to pay for a quality translation. Editing makes all the difference here. (I'm looking at Dostoyevsky, chinese literature, Waltari, and Camus... and Hemingway in Spanish, also Rothfuss in spanish)

I pass good books on. People will come over and I'll talk about something interesting I read, and theyll pop their kindle on my puter and load up a few books. They read my blog and then want to talk to me about it, I'll give them a copy.

People talk about writers getting paid. Writing is like music, you pour your heart and soul and people love it but won't pay a dime. The esoteric nature of the material means the valuation is not truly universal. If your ideas are good, the money will come. If they aren't then you'll have a lot of valueless material. I'm the child of a writer.

The pirating of ebooks and such is one of the reasons Borders is no longer around along with the invention of tablets like kindle and nook. To me there is nothing that can compare to the smell and feel of a paperback book in my hands. Also it is my life goal to own a library in my house one day that is wall to wall ceiling to floor nothing but books and how will that ever be achieved if the books are bits of data stored on a hard drive? Buying a book is one of the best feelings in the world and the right thing to do.

The pirating of ebooks didn't destroy physical bookstores. The mere existence of ebooks destroyed them. But even before the ebook revolution, Amazon was already demolishing bookstores by selling print books cheaper and more conveniently.

None of that matters, if some authors believe piracy helps them then by all means they can distribute their product however they see fit, free or otherwise. However if the owner of a piece of i.p. wants to be paid for their product they have a right to that payment. It's true that not everyone who pirates would purchase but piracy is stealing goods it's pretty cut and dry.

Sorry to be a nit-picking git, but I've come across far too many people who seem to think because they've had a crappy little game or some pointless self-help book published, that everyone ought to buy it and they live happily ever after.

I live by a simple rule, if it's good enough to pirate it's good enough to buy!!

what a pathetic argument. its a question of somebody wanting a product or service, getting it and then refusing to pay for it. if you want the product pay for it if you don't want it stay the fuck away from it, don't steal it.

For me it depends on politics. If you think everyone should have access to books regardless of socio-economic standing, then maybe it's not such a bad thing widely, though illegally, distributing ebooks online, free of charge. I don't feel guilty because when I pirate books from these sources, I feel like I'm supporting that system and way of thinking.

If you think everyone should have access to books regardless of socio-economic standing

Then you should support your local library, which is a legal way to support that system and way of thinking. Ebook piracy makes publishers more reluctant to release titles in that format, and promotes nothing.

Well, regardless, it's allows for free and immediate access to books. I think that's a positive thing no matter which way you turn it. If you like, the issue of promoting things is not the concern. The good, more simply, is in the effect of pirating.

I download any book that I want, as well as whatever else happens to be in the torrent, and I do it with a smile. When you can copy and paste something a million times with zero effort it loses all of it's monetary value, but that doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile. The free flow of information, especially when it relates to books and other forms of learning, is a necessary step in the history of mankind. The future is here motherfuckers, knowledge is free on the internet, TAKE IT.

Easy. I've read 20-something books in the past month, mostly at work. I'm about to start a job that requires me to be out of town for a month at a time. Not going to lug around 20 odd books and I refuse to pay the ridiculous prices for ebooks

Also, I do still frequent my local used book store but it's a used book store and isn't too reliable. Especially if I'm reading a series. There are still books I plan on buying for my next read through (ASOIAF) because they are still more enjoyable.

It's actually a pretty nice thing to own a book. Books are satisfying. They have weight, shape, texture. Pretty covers or slip covers. Nice crisp fonts on nice white paper. E-books don't have any of that. They don't really exist. They are just memories ... and by that I mean, we only possess them once we have read them, and then they are only memories of the past, which are quickly forgotten. Books, on the other hand, endure. I don't think there's any danger of e-books replacing real books.

I don't have to justify anything. Information is out there. I share it. That's a little thing we call "culture."

Why don't you justify marching into our shared world of the imagination and claiming territory for yourself alone? Why don't you justify fencing off parts of the the human experience for your benefit alone? Why don't you justify the nearly infinite monopoly your government grants you on mere arrangements of words in our common language?

You expect me to spend a shitload of money on a book blindly? Fuck you. Your obscurity is richly deserved.

You treat your writing as a sample, approach me in other ways, build up a goddamn relationship with me as a reader -- yeah, I might actually pay you for a hard copy or for early access.

Every book you read, no matter where you get it, is paid for out of the most valuable thing you have - your time. The world has entered a period when "media" are in such unbelievable glut, when there are so many thousands of activities completing for every free second, and mere books at the bottom of that heap, that any author ought to be down on their knees weeping with joy that anybody reads them under any conditions at all